7 Reasons Teaching Your Kid About Their Privilege Is Important

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In a rapidly-changing world, the list of things that we, as parents, have to do to ensure our kids have the best possible chance at success can seem never-ending. Fortunately, a lot of the old assumptions about what moms “must” do are dying, as we realize that they’re outdated, unnecessary, or just don’t fit our particular, unique style of parenting. That frees us up to focus on what really matters. As a Black mom in a multiracial, blended family, I’m here to tell you that one of the things that really matters, is teaching our kids about their privilege.

With so many intersecting and overlapping identities regarding race, color, class, gender, sexuality, ability, religion/belief status, and more, virtually all of our children have aspects of their identities that will give them privilege, and others that place them at a disadvantage. The few who don’t, will be surrounded by those who do. Failing to teach our children about these undeniable realities means putting them at a huge disadvantage when it comes to forming satisfying, mutually respectful relationships and behaving ethically in society. If we want them to live their best lives and be their best selves, as all good parents do, it’s on us to not only make sure they know what it takes to overcome any disadvantages, but that they also know how to manage their advantages. Here are just a few reasons why:

It Helps Their Social Skills

At its core, being able to understand how privilege works is about being able to understand that other people see and experience things very differently from how you see and experience them. It’s about being able to see and understand the world from other people’s perspectives, which is a crucial part of developing empathy and other important social skills. The basic lessons of learning about privilege help children to become better listeners, to think before acting, and to consider the impact of their actions on others. These are crucial lessons all kids need to learn.

It’s A Basic Part Of Living In A Diverse Society

Oppression doesn’t just happen to the oppressed. While oppression is systemic, it requires the action (or often, inaction) of ordinary people mindlessly repeating the mistakes of the past. By teaching kids about their privilege, we help them understand the imbalances in power that permeate society, so that they can choose to act mindfully in ways that correct those imbalances. In doing so, we help them navigate living in a diverse society with less fear or discomfort, while causing less harm to others around them.

Learning Is Easier Than Unlearning

If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve had the experience of growing up thinking the world was one way, then having a rude, painful awakening sometime late in your adolescence or well into adulthood. Upon awakening, you then had to (and probably continue to) unlearn a whole bunch of oppressive crap that, in addition to making society less free, makes it harder for you to form satisfying relationships and connect with other people, especially across lines of difference.

Indeed, if you’re someone who’s still defensive about or skeptical of the very concept of privilege, you’ve probably had a number of painful, shame-filled moments where you felt like your whole idea of who you are as a person was turned on its head, and you’re still trying to figure out what’s going on. We can spare the next generation some of that pain and hardship, by helping them learn what’s really going on, right from the beginning.

Learning At Home Is Less Risky

Having tough conversations with people who love them unconditionally is far less scary than having those same high-stakes conversations with people who don’t know them and easily decide that they’re not worth the effort, and exclude them from friendship, organizational membership, and so forth. Presenting issues like privilege in a factual way at home is a lot easier on kids than leaving them to figure those things out for themselves when they’re older, have more misconceptions to overcome, and are less protected from the consequences of their interpersonal missteps and mistakes.

Dismantling Oppression Is Everyone’s Responsibility

Oppression is not just a thing that happens, beyond our control, like the weather. Oppression is the result of people’s decisions. It was created by people, and continues whenever people either intentionally discriminate against others, or refuse to learn how to actively oppose it. When people with privilege fail to understand their privilege and choose different ways of acting in society, they perpetuate injustice. It’s not up to some superhero to come and save the world from injustice, nor is it the responsibility of the oppressed to teach their oppressors to recognize their full humanity. It is up to ordinary people with privilege, parents very much included, to teach their children (and themselves) to see the value and dignity in every person, and to treat all people as they deserve to be treated.

Kids Need To Understand How Society Functions

Kids see social injustice on a daily basis. They witness, experience, and/or engage in stereotyping and discrimination all the time. But when they don’t have trusted adults to help them identify, name, and unpack these often uncomfortable and scary phenomena, they accept them as the natural order of things. That’s scary for all kids. It’s dangerous for kids who belong to oppressed groups, because they learn that they are less worthy, and that it’s their lot in life to be mistreated. It’s also dangerous for kids who are on the privileged side of things, because they learn that it’s OK to mistreat other people who are different from themselves. No good parent wants to raise kids to believe it’s OK to mistreat people, yet that’s exactly what parents do when they fail to teach them about their privilege.

Furthermore, parents whose children have less privilege are more likely to raise them to understand injustice and stand up for themselves. Failing to teach kids with privilege that they have to be more conscientious about choosing how to act, puts them in a position where they may be blindsided by their peers, who know better, and who won’t stand for unjust treatment. Don't want your son to get kicked in the balls for snapping a girl's bra strap? Proactively teach him to treat girls and women with respect before he gets socialized into misogyny.

It’s Liberating

When we, as adults, tell kids the truth about hard things in the world, we teach them that they can trust us, that we believe they can deal with hard things, and that they have a role to play in making the world a better place. That makes the world a far less scary place to live in, for them and for all of us, and frees us to focus our energy on leading fuller, happier lives, while simultaneously helping others do the same.